Household implement



Sept.' 4, 1923. 1,466,838

- E. J. KENNEDY HOUSEHOLD IMPLEMENT Filed Jan. 25 19 23 INVENTOI? WITNESS HTTOIP/VEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1923."

"Siam r eae ae e Latera ELIZABETH a. KENNEDY; or rnrriennnrnia, PENNSYLVANIA! HOUSEHOLD IMPLEMENT.

; Application filed J81111a1y25, 1923. Serial No. 615,420,

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, Eiaziiiin'rrrJ. KEN- many, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of thecity, and county of Phila .of rubbing the articles; to provide an imple nent which renders it unnecessary for the operator to immerse the-hands in the wash water in the operations of Soaping and rub--' biiig the clothes and .to provide an implemerit embodying novel means for holding a cake of soap in combination "and association with other means for facilitating the operations in which the implement is intended to beemployed as aforesaid. f 7

Further objects of my invention are the provision in a household implement of soap holding means of such'cliaracter that the .likelihood of injury to the fabrics to' which the soap is applied is minimized, and to provide a household implement suitable for use in and adapted to facilitate the operation of washing clothes or other articles which 'is simple in construction, easy to use andimay be manufactured at a relatively low cost.

The foregoing, as Well as various other objects and novel features ofconstruction vention, will more fully appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawing forming apart hereof and in which are illustrated certain embodiments of the invention. a a V p In the said drawing ii -which the same numerals are used to indicate similar parts in the several figures, ,Fig. l isa perspective view of a preferred embodiment of my invention with the parts-in the position in which they are disposed under-operative condition andwith a cake of soap shownin broken lines in operative position intheimpleinent, and F ig.2,is a fragmentary longi-' tudinal, vertical, substantially central section thereof, also-illustrating in dotted lines substantially the position assumed-by one of handle brokenaway andrespectively showifully appear. 1

otherwise injuring-"the delicate fabric In a the preferred'embodiment of the lnvention T I r the elements of the soap holding mea'ns when in non-operative or nonssoap-holding posi- 7 t on. Figs. and: 4 are views substantially similar. to F 1g. 1 but with the implement ing slightly modified. forms of. the invention, While Fig. 5 is a si I slightly modified form as willhereafter more 7 eferring now more particularly to the form ofthe invention; and 2, the same may preferably comprise a body," generally designatedlas 2, having a substantially rectangular portion;3, 'tel'm lr nating in a. transversely extending lower edge or end 3, andwhichat its other "or ilar view ofa further i shown in Figs. 1

upper end mergesinto and is continued up. i

wardlyto form a banana of; a shape to be readilyjgrasped by the'operator. Con-veniently this body -may,-be:cut from aboard ofsuitable thickness so as to'present substantially flat parallel opposite faces 5 and 6, V V

the former beingadapt'edtoward the lower end 3 of the body to formi a seat or supporting surface for a cake ofsoap Siwhen disposed .iiiv the implement as hereinafter described, Preferably I-may provide adja' cent the-lower extremity 3 of the body and disposed transversely thereof so as toextend outwardly from the face 6, a cross; member forming 'a rubbing element 8, conveniently formed separately from theibody and rigidly secured vthereto-in any suitable", manner.

This rubbing element is conveniently provided with a curved surface or extremity 9' in such manner that during the washing operation the element maybe rubbed over and arrangementcomprehended by my inthe clothes to remove the dirt or. stains therefrom without danger of tearing or' this rubbing element 'is preferably long enough to entend entirely across the body and thus ass1sts,'1n additionto its priinaryj i v function, in stifiening andstrengthening the 7 body. i

' Suitable means are provided for main 3 of the body, saidmeans in the preferred embodiment of the invention comprising-- a transversely extending stopflor abutment 7.

l0 rigidly secured to: the body and extending transversely thereofaiid outwardly fromthe face i 5' in combination with means fo'rholda ing the soap on the implement and in the angle formed between the lower face of the stop and'the surface of the body. Conveniently said last mentioned means may coinprise a flexible element 12 preferably formed from spring wire and secured at one end in the body so as to extend upwardly andp'enerally rearwardly from a point about midway between the stop and the end 3' and means for receiving and operatiyely locking the opposite end ofthe flexible means to the body inthe vvicinity of the point where the latter merges intothe handle. While the said receiving and locking means may be of any suitable form, the same may conveniently comprise a recess 13 formed in the body and of a suitable size to receive and retain the free end of the flexible element when in.- serted therein. Ordinarily this recess may be formed by drilling a hole in 'orthrough the body'at the proper point, the axis of the hole being inclined with respect to the surface o the body so as to facilitate the introduction of the end of the flexible element when'desired. The other end'of the element is permanently secured in or'to'the body in any suitable manner conveniently by passing: the same through a hole 15 drilled through the body in a more or less angular direction about midway between the end 3 and the stop and preferably on the center line of the body. and then bending the extremity 12 of the element back upon itself anddriving' it into the face 6 of the body in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 2. It is found in practice that this method of fastening the flexible element in the body may be cheaply and rapidly carried out and is entirely satis factory for the performance of the requisite function, but other methods of "securing: the end of the flexible element in or to the body may be utilized if desired.

By reason of thefact that the flexible element-l2 is formed of spring wire or the like when its free end is removed from the recess 13 or othersecuring means, the element will normally assume a position substantially as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and may if desired be readily sprung or bent to a position more nearly at right angles to the body without imparting to it a permanent bend or set. When it is desired to position a cake of soap on the implement therefore, the element is sprung upwardly and forwardlyfthat is, in a direction away fromthe handle) from the position shown in dotted lines inFi'g. 2 to onein which it may be niore conveniently pushed through the cake of soap, ordinarily at substantially the center thereof; after whichthe'cake is slid down the element till it contacts with the surfa e The element is then sprung" rearwardly and downwardly until its free end can be secured to the body as by'insertion in the recess 13, which operation-results in drawing the cake snugly against the stop 10, in which position it is thereafter securely maintained as long as the free end of the flexible element is secured to the body. If desired eitherthe implement or the soap or "both may be dipped in water before the soap is placed in position as it is found that with certain varieties of soap initial wetting of the contacting surfaces of the soap and the implement enhances the rigidity with which the soap is held in operative position, but ordinarily such preliminary wettingmay l e-dispensed with. v r

at will be observed that with the soap thus positioned in the an le between the forward face of the stop and the surface of the body, the soa may be-very conveniently applied to the clot es or other articles being washed by grasping the handle and holding the implement in a position in which the soap may be rubbed thereagainst and that even afte'r the soap is consideredablyworn away'so' as to allow a greater length of t is flexible element to be exposed than is initiallythe case when the soap is first positioned in the implement,

there is no danger'of tearing or otherwise injuring the clothes since the surface presented by the flexible element is always smooth and devoid ofsharp'corners or. the

like. It will of course be apparent that in the course of time the soap will be worn away to a point at which it can no longer be conveniently applied, after which the free end'ot the flexible element may be removed from the recess and any portion of the soap remaining betweenthe stop and the body removed and a fresh cake inserted in the manner already described. i X

In the modification of the' invention shown.

in F 3 I may provide the bod 1 between a i i) its lower oxtren'iity 3 and the face oft-he stop with one or more blades LS for example, a pair of blades disposed at right angles to each'othcr and intersecting at their centers, a portion ofeach blade being disposed in a slotor recess formed in the surface and the other portion of the blade projecting outwardly therefrom. while in the modifica tion shown in Fig. 4 I provide instead of blades one or more pins 19 arranged'to proect above the surface 5 between the face of the stop and the extremity of the body,'preferably in either construction the height of the bladesof the pins being'consi'derably less than the height of the stop." In utilizing tnese forms of; the invention thecalre of soap S is placed in contact with the'stop and then forced downwardly toward the face 5 and. into the angle between theistop and the surface of the body in such manner that the blades or the pins wilhenter the cake and assist in retaining the same in position in the implement. By reason of the fa'ctrthat the blades or pins are preferably f relatively short it will be apparent. that 'the extremities thereof will not be exposed until the ma,- jor portion of the cake has been worn away thus obviating'any injury to the clothes 7 In the form of the invention shown in Fig. instead of employing a transversely disposed stop 10 to engage the end of the cake of soap, I may utilize a plurality of pins arranged in laterally spaced relation to project outwardly from the face 5,0f the body at a suitable distance from the end 3 thereof, the function of these pins, namely, that of forming an abutment or stop for the end of the cake, corresponding to the function of the preferred form of stop 10 hitherto described. 1 Obviously, if desired, pins of this character may be used in place of the stop 10 in connection with thelforms of the inventionshown in Figs. 3 and 4:.

It will thus appear that'my invention provides an implement adapted for use in washing clothes or other articles and in other similar household operations andfby means of which a cake of soap may be conveniently held and applied to the goods being washed or maybe shaken to form a lather in the wash water and which also may be utilized for rubbing the clothes to remove the dirt therefrom, all without the necessity of the operator dipping the hands in the water or in fact, bringing the hands into contact with the clothes at all, these features contributing to the marked utility of the device and being especially appreci-V ated when badly-soiled clothing or articles from sick rooms are being laundered with consequent desirability of minimizing the contact of the operators hands therewith or their introduction into the wash water.

While I have herein described'with con? siderable particularity a preferred and certain modified forms of my invention I do not thereby desire or intend to specifically limit the invention thereto, as minor changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts entering endthereof, astop projectingsubstantially normal to a face of'the body between the handle and the other endthereof, andflexible means extending from the body point between said other endand the adjacent side of thes'top adapted to be inserted in a cake of soap. V 2. A device of the class descrlbed, comprising a body, a handle extending from one end thereof, a stop projecting substantially normal to a face of the body between'the handle and the other end thereof, flexible means extending from the body at' a. point between said other end and the adj acent. side of thestop adapted to be inserted in'a cake ata' of'soap, and" means. for removably securingan end of said flexible means to the body on the opposite side of said stop. 7' Q VSCInaIdeviCe ofthe class described, the combination of a body having a handle extending from one end and'a substantially 'fiat face, a stop projecting substantially normally outward from said face and disposed between the handle and the'opposite end of the body,a spring wir'e secured at one end in the body and extending from the face thereof between the abutment and the end of the body'and normally curving outwardly from said face and toward the handle, andmeans for securing the free end of the wireto the-body ata point adjacent the'handle."

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 23rd day of January, 1923..

ELIZABETH J. K NNEnrj 

